OBLADI ODAIBA

Reclaimed land a modern wonder? Believe it or not, the islands of Odaiba in Tokyo Bay were created by man in the 1800s. But its redevelopment into a futuristic district only started 200 years later. It certainly has a lot of interesting buildings and a dedicated elevated rail line, the Yurikamome, connects them - museums, malls, theme parks and hotels.

The place reminds me of Punggol 21 - sleek and futuristic but sterile. Odaiba somehow lacks that lived-in cosy feel. I didn't visit it at night, so I'm not so sure how happening it is when the sun goes down.

The Fuji TV building certainly looks fascinating, but El Cheapo here didn't pay to visit the silver orb that tops the structure. Just walked up the long flight of stairs (succumbing to a series of escalators after a while) to the middle section - which is a podium with the ticketing booth, an amusement centre, souvenir shops selling manga/anime stuff and a stamping station for kids to collect stamps for their Fuji TV scrapbook. I rode the bubble escalator to ground level.
I didn't seem to have much luck hunting down lunch in Tokyo. There was a wide selection of makan places in Aqua City mall but I just had to have the dumb luck to pick a bento restaurant with - believe or not - service that was found wanting. An old man sitting next to me at tables which face the Tokyo skyline tut-tutted away because he couldn't get any wait staff's attention to call for the bill. I waited half an hour for my food before walking out after seeing the two women who replaced the old man at the table get their lunches first. Didn't even bother telling the waiter - no one about to say, "Cancel the order," in English, of course.

Ended up in the ground floor food court, where I ordered some fried soba (oily!). The thing that intrigued me was the little remote beeper handed to me. The counter staff told me in halting English to hang around the food court area and when food's ready, I'd be beeped. How cool is that! Had my greasy noodles (I was starving by then - at about 2pm) by the sea, in front of the geocache, Liberty and the Rainbow Bridge. Can you spot the geocache in the tree in the photo above?

Then while walking (better than taking the train and missing out on sights along the way) to the next train stop, I found a ramen shop! Alas me tummy was filled. Sigh... missed opportunity.


Lots of shops at Aqua City - global names like HMV, Gap, Eddie Bauer and quirky - but not enough to make me want to whip out my wallet. But I had fun pressing buttons on the WC in the toilet! Heated seat some more!
One of the many colourful drug stores in town. Illiterate, I could only guess from the packagings what the contents were for. And then there was this cute cat-only shop. Yes, that kitty in the window is for real. No photography in store, so I walked to the window outside to get its attention, which was a lot of hard work (and trampling on grass)!